rough morning....

 coughing/headache/sinuses....drag!! got quite a bit accomplished yesterday before i passed out.  took cough medicine last night....i think it dropped me into a coma..haha.  but at least i stopped coughing for a bit. the coughing is exhausting and i was and remain a bit short of breath.  the dogs must be walked though.  so in a bit i shall hit the trails and hope for the best.

 would really like this headache to go away though.  can't stand headaches...between the knots across my shoulders and the sinuses....my head doesn't stand a chance...sorry to whine.  this too shall pass. many have it much worse.

 got the deck re-stained.  just have some touch up to do today. of course, it is threatening rain so not a great day to paint. the pups were not happy to be cut off from the back yard yesterday afternoon.  we just hit the dog park at U-Lake. they really don't care as long as we get out somewhere.

 i also got the doors up and painted on the old cabinets in the garage.  now to load all these extra storage spaces with stuff and continue on the path of getting re-organized.

 i also got some of the yard raked up and the cat run put back in place. that meant doing repairs on the netting. 

 the neighbors cat was on my car torturing my pups the other day.  one day...they will get that cat.  not. the rest are from the drive out to Portage the other day.

 it did feel good getting some stuff done yesterday.  tomorrow i need to make some calls on the to do list as well.  have a paddle coming up soon.  really soon. 

 got to the bills this am so that is always good.

 last night as my cough medicine kicked in a watched a double header of old movies...i was wiped out from the day i think.  i watched a few favorites, "Once" and "Beaches".  both excellent and chill.

 i have got some knots....my massage therapist is probably post delivery of baby though and she moved to another place. 

 the dogs had fun swimming out by the big ice...in truth they were no doubt unaware of the big ice, but just enjoyed swimming.  i keep hoping to make some road trips but the weather and this cold have thrown me off for a bit again.  drat!

 not sure where to walk today.  short and sweet? probably. 

 at least a few evangelicals are stirring...at least a few in the congregation  of shooter in Poway.  after claiming that mainstream Muslims should be held to account for the more radical elements, one pastor wondered out loud if they too should be held accountable for the hate that has come from their own pews.

 it's still a small minority.  it's something i have said for years now, but what do i know?  when you mix hate and politics into your religion you put your congregants at risk for radicalizing.  the stage is already set i fear.  tough to turn back those wheels once you've rev'd the gears and put the wheels on the runway.

 not sure how long it will take for us to bottle back up the hate that has been released.  it's not just us though.  it seems that the hate is building world wide.  is it just the set up of yet another purge of human lives.  our earth can only handle so many humans living on it before something takes out a large segment of the populace.  natural disaster, disease or violent bloodshed.  at some point something hits the breaking point.  something takes lives. 6 million Jews...that number is nearly impossible to fathom.  17 million total killed. 

 between 1941(maybe more like 1933 the beginning of killings) and 1945....that really is not that long ago.  not only were Jews killed, Soviets, Poles, the Roma, the "incurably sick", political and religious dissenters, communists, Jehovah's witnesses and gays. 

 there are many examples of genocide even over the past few hundred years...how often has this happened over the years humans have existed on this earth.  we are brutal.  as a kid i remember reading about the Vietnam War and torture and then went to the library to read specifically about torture.  i was shocked at how horrible humans can be to each other.  things have not really changed.

 the Khmer Rouge in 1975 took nearly 2 million Cambodians, 1915-1923 over 1 million Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks killed.  1990 in Rwanda over 800,000 killed in 100 days.  humans are very effective killers. 1991 in Bosnia over 100,000 killed.

 there are some records of genocides that go back but details are difficult to nail down.  history through the ages is written to benefit the winner of any conflict.  history is forgotten and repeats itself, that is what they say.  those who forget history are forced to repeat it.  it is always forgotten.  i think of how recent the extermination of the Jews was...the 1940's, i was born in the 1960's but to me that just seems like ancient history...it is easy to see how that to those born now may seem like more fantasy than reality.  even 9-11 seems distant because those going to college now were not born yet or were just babies. 

 i stopped by the Wildlife Conservation Center.  the bears were out playing.  they have new baby caribou...so cute

 a few plane incidences this weekend.  a Russian jet landed in fire...some died, another plane slipped off the runway in Florida. i don't believe any died in that incident.  overall those planes take off over and over with out any issues at all.

 i know that in my head as i watch them take off over the city recently...they are doing repairs on the runway.  i know it's not realistic to fear these jets, they really do have an incredible track record...that is even in nations where safety checks are not done with great regularity or required. 

 felt dizzy, blood sugar feels low.  coughing uses a lot of calories...at least I'm convinced of that....eating some cheese. 

 the baby caribou were sleeping when i first arrived, by the time i circled around they were up and moving.  so cute.

 they are dark those first weeks of life. 

 always amazing how quickly wild animals are up and ready to move.

 NK fired of more missiles. no biggie...the GOP has it all under control.  haha.

 the current administration states repeatedly that they are the most transparent and yet...they refuse any oversight.  interesting.  always think about how they would be reacting if the tables were turned...and it would be that if this was a Dem in office doing what the iitoo does, they would be flipping completely out. 

 reflections of a baby caribou.

 dinner time

 the headache isn't improved much, but these dogs are starting to put me on notice...they want to be walked. 

 can't believe it's after 2 pm already.  i had done lots by 2 yesterday....amazing how different a day can be.

 have just been taking inhalers.  have a bit of a cough med hangover i suspect.  i try to avoid taking anything if i can. 

 i had just gotten tired from coughing last night. 

 a few of the whale.  the meat/blubber has been harvested and the head will be sent to a lab in San Diego i hear.  they are doing studies on hearing in whales down there.

 there the whale is, before being harvested...resting in peace for the last time.  as the crew headed over with ropes to tie off the whale i headed out.  i was good with this being how i remembered the whale. 

 low tide in the arm

 the green leaves are popping  out all over the community.  have a good day. 

thankful for: A. good cough medicine so i can get a break  B. patient puppies  C. lazy Sunday mornings.

catch up from last summer still...haha

 most of these are from Hallo Bay with a few left over from Holgate as well.  what can i say summers are busy picture wise.  these are scenery mostly as this evening walk was not bear filled.  we did have a great opportunity to listen to the call of the wolves which was pretty amazing.  what a sound!

 light rain right now.  i'll don rain gear soon enough and head out with the puppies.  makes for a lazy start of a day when it's raining i find. once i'm out there, i quite enjoy it. yesterday started out like that as well but soon the sun came out and in the end it was pretty sweet out there.

 ran a few errands and did some touch ups on the little free library.  hopefully i can get that base built soon and get it out there.

 met with friends to hit the bear tooth and the movie, "zookeepers wife".  wildly depressing but still well done...except the last bit where it's a year later and the baby they had suddenly looked about 4 years old. that was kind of odd.  could have done without seeing all the animals blown up at the zoo and shot.  it's based on a true story though.  these things do happen.

 it's rarely a mention though with all the human bloodshed.  the animal losses are morphed by the human losses.  the animal losses are always there though.  i'm sure many of the Jews killed had pets that were left to their own devices or killed outright.  Zoo's that fall in to war zones are rarely left untouched. even if they are the animals are often left to starve to death.  keepers are forced away and food is scarce.

 had debated an outing this stretch off.  so far that hasn't happened.  lots to do around the house to though.  this break up/spring time is a great time to get some of that stuff done.

 the mosquito's are coming out.  especially in the evening. after the movie i went moose spotting, only saw one, but there were quite a few mosquito's.

 we did a loop around Little Campbell Lake yesterday.  no moose spotted there.

 these lenticular clouds were the ones that kept the plane from coming to pick us up for a few days.  the plane lands on a beach with an up slope so a cross wind could be very problematic.

 iitoo is out of the country.  snippets from his speech to the males of the middle east (it was a vast sea of males in the audience as is common in modern middle east), he seemed to stay on the message given to him.  thank God.  he does not do well with ad lib.  so the speech was not bad really.  sadly, i don't really think his actions match the speeches he tends to make.  but a nice speech can keep some peace for another day.  fear was he'd piss people off.  i'm sure he loved his greeting in Saudi.  he was treated like a king, which is exactly how he believes he should be treated...oh that he wasn't born in America and he could have risen to the level of king.  so they wisely stroked his ego to get what they wanted.  more arms and in return they have made a donation apparently to Ivanka's non-profit i believe.

 it is amazing that everything that he does that is totally like the crap they screamed about that HRC did is suddenly just fine.  as long as it's their person, all the corruption is totally fine.

 the GOP still wants to gut medicare and social security.  still want to make it easier to drill in monuments and national parks, still want to take away insurance...their core values or lack of values still remain.  we, the people, matter very little to those in office at this moment.  sadly, so many who still are on team Drumpf still don't seem to see that he is not fighting for them as much as they believed he would.

 they that watch faux news get the usual crap...if it's negative about iitoo it must be fake, or but obama or but hillary still, yes still.  they seem to push the victim role.  poor conservatives they have no power, they have no media, they have no influence.  once a martyr always a martyr it seems.  we all take on roles in our lives and it can be tough to reverse course.  truth is they have gained all of those things but still act like they are the victims.  being a victim does make success more difficult and fleeting so i'm ok with that. just think it's become so self destructive.

 this attitude seems to have also lost the conservatives their moral/ethical high ground.  since they have sunk to even lower depths than those that they call their enemies they no longer have any moral stand.  this administration is a source of constant lies.  they blame everyone else for all of their errors and take absolutely no responsibility.  the secrecy is extremely detrimental.  they blame leaks and leakers, but the leaks are only really a sign of how dire things have become in the administration.  he demands loyalty but, when those around him see mayhem and live in fear, their only recourse is to leak and hope that some how this mess will be discovered and dealt with.

 they like to think the leaks are from Obama holdovers but i suspect the bulk of them are just those in the know who are scared of what is happening.  the GOP knows it but they have an agenda that they would desperately like to push through before the crap storm takes away all power and respect.  before their base figures out that faux news has fed them a line of crap for years.

 below our guide is calling back to the wolves...they responded.  we had some fun out there.

 walking along a remote beach like this is always a treat.  it's amazing what you might find out there.

 we were a fairly early group as the bears were just collecting waiting for the big salmon rush.

 looks like a pretty big bear to me.

 i wear a size 6.5-7 for some perspective.

 remnants of the Japan Tsunami.

 these pups are overall pretty chill. they are currently just laying around waiting for me to finish doing this so we can head out walking.  they are never demanding.  not for walks or food.  they don't rush me for meals and often i just fill the bowls and set them down without dog presence.  Tusker still tends to pick up the bowls and move them to a preferred eating spot.  usually scattered across the main room floor.

 love beautiful big clouds and big skies.

 below you can see a wolf.  a nice sighting

 checking out the crossings.

 we chilled and waiting on the sides.  i think he was just curious how deep it was out there for potential crossings with later groups.

 they will move camp. in the old days they had an established camp but the rules changed and now they have to switch locations every few weeks i think.  more of a pain but the powers that be feel it's better for the land.

 family of some sort of bird.

 and of course, eagles.  can't be around salmon without eagles.

 this one is a juvenile bald eagle.

 coming in for a landing.

 adult

 fox prints

 bears down the beach as we head back to base camp for night.

 it was the mom and three cubs

 love these little cotton flowers.  the purple is monks hood.

 the rest are scenery from Holgate.  that is actually Peterson glacier i think. these are from the ride back to Seward.

 all seemed pretty calm out there, but it did become a more exciting ride as we turned into the bigger water.  had reminders of my trek out in Bristol Bay.  not excited to repeat that, but i just rode it out at the front of the boat.  we weren't really in any danger and we arrived back safely, but it was a bit sketchy in a few spots

 tough to take pictures once the slop began, but for this section it was flat and calm.  on the way out we had big sways.  those were fun. it's when the sways come from all different directions that it gets more dicey out there.

 i guess i have wasted enough time for the morning...now afternoon.

 ice from the glaciers can be seen pretty far out depending on the tides.

 off we go...below is more whale action though seeing them and taking pictures in the slop proved pretty tough at times.  we still stopped and attempted to watch. our best views of whales had been on the way in.

grateful for:  A.  folded chips. man those are good..it's the little things B. snuggle time with puppies. i'm sure they don't enjoy it as much as i do, but they oblige.  C.  the company of my pets. it would surely be a lonely home without them.